


Homura Akemi: Test Subject One

by Atomyst_Fics



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-05-26 11:55:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15000371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atomyst_Fics/pseuds/Atomyst_Fics
Summary: It was a perfect ending. The town had been evacuated before Walpurgis Night, all her friends were saved, and she successfully kept Madoka from making a contract. However, the Japanese government took a particular interest in the girl who predicted a disaster the worlds top scientists were clueless of. Now, Homura finds herself locked in a research laboratory as Test Subject One.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**I**

_"Send in test subject one,"_ came the apathetic voice from over the intercom.

Homura, dressed in nothing but a white hospital gown, was led forward by two armed guards. She maintained her stationary upright posture as she walked, although her dark eyes darted all around. White walls, metal doors, and two-way mirrors. That is all her life had been since she was taken here two weeks ago.

The tiled floor felt cold against her bare feet. The fluorescent lighting annoyed her. It was too bright, and it let out a constant low buzzing sound. If she did not think about the buzzing she could not hear it, but when she _did_ think about it, it was _all_ she could hear. If she did not know any better, she would think they had chosen that specific lighting just as another way to get into her head.

She and the two armed guards who escorted her stopped at a metal door. A camera stationed just above the door rotated to look at them, and the guard to her left waved at it. The door began to beep, then slid open a moment later.

This door, just like all the others she had seen so far, was nearly a foot thick and seemed to be solid metal all the way through. She had some pipe bombs stored inside her shield space, but she doubted they would be strong enough to damage it. She had another type of bomb stored there that she knew for a fact would blow right through (plus a lot more), but it was still too early to take that drastic of a measure. For now, she had to just play it safe and let her enemy know as little about her as possible, all the while learning as much about _them_ as she could. When the time was right, she would make her break and get out of here. She grinned; they had no idea who they were messing with.

The door led to a small room. Inside, there was not much to see. There was a mirror on the front wall, which likely had a group of scientists sitting behind it. Against another wall there was a table with small building blocks lying on top of it, and on the floor there were two Xs - one made with red tape, the other made with blue. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all white, and there was that annoying buzzing of fluorescent light, just like everywhere else in this hellhole.

The guards stationed themselves on either side of the door. It beeped and hissed as it slid shut again. Homura stood, a few paces ahead of them, and looked around.

That same monotone voice came over the intercom, _"Test Subject One: Homura Akemi, age fifteen."_ Then a pause, and _"How are you doing today, Homura?"_ Homura was not exactly in the mood for pleasantries, so she did not bother with a response. She just flung her hair back and looked over to the two-way mirror with dark menacing eyes.

_"If you would, please step over to the red X and stand facing the mirror."_ There was not much point in resisting this simple request, so she obeyed. This wasn't the first time they had brought her to a room like this, and the sooner she finished whatever ridiculous tasks they had in store for her, the sooner she would be able to go back to her room.

_"Good. Now if you could, please transform your clothing."_ She stood there, in the white hospital gown, and just stared.

After a full minute of waiting the voice asked: _"Is everything alright, Homura?"_ There actually was a reason why she would rather not transform. She didn't know how many people were sitting behind that glass, and for a few seconds within the transformation sequence she would be standing there stark naked. Well, not actually naked; for the most part she would be covered by that rainbow light, but it outlined her nude form perfectly enough that it did not leave much to the imagination.

How was she supposed to explain that, though? Well, she had already been here for two weeks, and if she knew anything about her enemy it was that they were persistent. She could go on standing there on that X and doing nothing for another five hours if she wanted, that stupid voice over the intercom would just keep asking over and over again until she finally obeyed.

So, she felt for her power and let herself transform. She did it with pride, deciding she would not huddle her arms over her chest and turn away like an embarrassed school girl. She was a Magical Girl, and this power meant she was something greater than an ordinary human, and that is how she would carry herself.

She put a hand over the center of her chest, where she kept her Soul Gem hidden, and suddenly her hair and the hospital gown started blowing as if there was some powerful source of wind in the room. The sleeves and hem of the gown tore away, dissipating and separating into the air until it was all gone and her entire body was nude and covered with light.

She stretched her arms out, and leaned backwards as her feet lifted off the ground. She floated a few inches in the air, her eyes closed and her hair blowing wildly. Black ribbons appeared, circling around her limbs and body before snapping tight and clothing her. With another burst of light the ribbons expanded and changed form. From her forearms, to her shoulders, to her body, to her legs, her Magical Girl uniform appeared.

When it was all over, her feet landed back on the ground softly. She was now wearing high-heeled shoes, black leggings, and a dress of purple and white. She opened her eyes, and continued staring at the mirror with her dark and heavy expression. _There, you bastards. Did you enjoy the show?_ She could imagine them all sitting back there, with their notebooks, whispering back and forth about what they had just seen. She could only imagine how they would react if she showed them a true display of her power. No doubt the transformation alone was quite impressive for someone who had never seen magic before, but that was the lowest of the low. She wanted to keep a good portion of her power hidden from them, however.

_"Thank you Homura, that's, quite impressive,"_ said the voice. _"Now, can you display your teleportation skill for us? If you would, please teleport over to the blue X."_

The gears on her shield turned, and time stopped. She walked over to the blue X as she was asked, faced the mirror once again and resumed time. To the viewers it would have looked like she disappeared from the red X and reappeared on the blue X instantly. She felt vaguely amused that they thought she was teleporting, although she suspected they had at least an inkling of her time stopping ability by now. If not, they truly were not very good at their jobs after all.

_"Excellent!"_ said the voice, _"Thank you for being so cooperative today, Homura. We have just one more test and then you can go back to your room. Look to the blocks sitting on the table. We would like you to rearrange them, instantly, like we have seen you do before. If you could build a small tower with them, that would be best. Go on, give us a real display of your power."_

_A real display?_ She grinned. Playing with blocks was not exactly a _'real display'_ of her power. She spoke out loud: "You want a real display of my power, huh?" Her dark eyes traced the two-way mirror back and forth. "Fine, you got it."

She stopped time and walked over to the blocks. She smacked her hand across them, sending them flying, until they froze in mid-air. Then she walked over to the two guards who were standing by the door. "Sorry about this," she said to them, although she knew they could not hear her. She yanked the assault rifle out of one's hands and pointed it at his leg. She fire one bullet, which froze just as its tip made it to the surface of his skin. She turned the gun on the other guard and did the same thing.

Then she walked to the center of the room and pointed the gun at the wall opposite of the mirror. She carefully fired in quick bursts. She was spelling something out with the bullets, which froze just before hitting the wall.

She ran out of ammo on the last word, then started taking the gun apart. She removed the clip, the slider, unscrewed the barrel, removed the handle and the firing pins. She laid all these parts neatly on the table where the blocks had once sat. Then she walked to the other guard and grabbed his gun as well.

She finished the last couple of letters on her little message, and walked back to the blue X. She stood there and pointed the rifle at the mirror. The true reason she did all this was partially to make a point, but that was only a very small part of it. The truth is she was hiding her true intentions by making her actions seem like those of a tantruming teenage girl. Her actual intention was to learn more about her enemy.

She wanted to know if the glass could be broken. It could be bullet-proof, but maybe it was not. If it was not, she wanted to see who was sitting behind the glass, watching her. How many of them were there? Were they old? Young? Were all of them scientists? Were some of them military? Also, was there a door on the other side of the glass she could get through without the use of a bomb?

These were all things worth knowing, and she was not giving any information away about herself by doing this. She knew they had already gotten a good display of her power before even capturing her, so even with all of this she was only showing them things they already knew.

She held the rifle firmly, and resumed time.

Instantly, there were screams from the guards as they fell to the ground. There was a series of quick crashes as the bullets hit the wall and blew away parts of the concrete, spelling three words: **_"GO TO HELL" ._ ** The blocks fell to the ground and spun around amongst themselves before coming to a stop.

One of the guards screamed: "Sh-shit! Let me out of here!" as he clawed at the door.

Homura focused down the sight of her rifle, looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but have a wide sardonic grin spread across her entire face.

_"Homura. Release the weapon immediately, and calm down!"_ said the voice over the intercom. _"We'll forgive this outburst if you stop right now."_

"You'll forgive me?" she said loudly, and steadied the gun. "You’ve got that backwards. You are the ones who need to start begging _me_ for forgiveness!"

She pulled the trigger and opened fire, spraying the bullets back and forth across the mirror. Each bullet cracked it with small spider webs of damage, but for the most part it held strong. She continued shooting anyway, thinking maybe enough fire would eventually blow it off, and she could get a good look at her enemy.

That did not happen, but a bullet must have ricocheted and hit one of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, because the room started flickering. Black and white and black and white. With each flicker, Homura could see them. Although she only saw them as silhouettes through the cracked glass, it was enough to see them scurrying around in a panic.

She felt satisfied. When the room flashed white, she could see herself in the cracked mirror, blood dripping from her forehead like red ribbons crawling down her face, her eyes narrow, and her lips smiling.

Then, she felt something hit her back and dig into her flesh. Suddenly, she lost control of her body. She spun in an arc as she hit the ground, the assault rifle letting off its last rounds in a circle around the room as she fell. She lied on the ground, her body convulsing. It was painful, but she could deal with pain. The problem was the sensation was constricting her muscles, making her body tight and hard to move. She could barely move a single finger, but somehow she managed to get her head up just enough to see two wires going from her back and leading to a small gun held in one of the guards' hands. _A taser._

Her body gave off one more burst of distressed motion before falling limp, and she passed out. Her Magical Girl uniform disappeared, and she was once again wearing nothing but a white hospital gown.

**II**

The room they had her staying in was not terribly uncomfortable. It was big, to say the least. It was like having her own personal apartment. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a living room. The living room came complete with a widescreen TV and a plethora of video games and movies to choose from. The fridge was pretty well-stocked, and she was told if there was anything else she wanted all she had to do was ask.

She had taken up drawing, as another way to pass the time. TV and video games could only keep her engaged for so long. Her art wasn't nearly as good as Madoka's, but looking back through the notebook she found that there was some obvious improvements from her first drawing to her last.

Thinking about Madoka made her put her pen down, and lean back as she reminisced.

It wasn't fair. She had finally achieved an ending she was happy with, and still she did not get to be with Madoka. She knew poor Madoka was probably extremely worried about her right now. She did not even know if any of her friends knew what had happened to her. To them, it probably seemed like she had just disappeared without saying a single word to anyone. Or maybe they thought a witch had gotten her? Whatever the case, she hoped Madoka would not be foolish enough to make a contract and wish for her safety. She did not think that would happen. She had done a thorough job explaining to Madoka why she could never become a Magical Girl under any circumstances, and she thought Madoka understood.

If it did happen, and Madoka _did_ become a Magical Girl, Homura supposed she could just rewind time again. Yes, that option would always be there, and if things got bad enough it would be worth considering. She did not want to, though. After hundreds upon hundreds of failures she had finally gotten a satisfactory ending, and she would not throw it away unless absolutely necessary.

She could not remember much after her outburst in the test room. She remembered the taser, and then staring at the ceiling as it flickered black and white with her vision fading. She vaguely recalled being put onto a stretcher and carried through the hallway. She had woken up at one point, and turned her head to one of the doctors who were carrying her. Then she felt a sharp pain at the side of her neck and everything went black again. When she woke up, she was lying on the bed they had provided her with in her 'apartment,’ and according to the clock several hours had passed.

She finished her drawing and held it out. It was just a simple picture of a cat. She thought the tail looked a little bit distorted, and its paws were not quite right, but its face and body seemed spot-on. She wrote the word 'Amy' above the cat, in pretty cursive writing, then closed the notebook.

Homura got up from the kitchen table, and walked back to the living room. She sat down on the couch, picked up the remote, and pointed it at the TV, pressing the power button. Nothing happened. She pressed it again and again and thought, _What the hell?_ She stood up and tried to turn the TV on manually, but that did not work either.

_Oh... I get it,_ she thought. She threw the remote down and walked to the giant metal door at the front of her little apartment. She looked up at the camera that was stationed there and yelled, "Hey! What the hell's wrong with the TV?" She stood there staring at the camera for a while without getting a response. "I know you can hear me!" After another minute of waiting, her eyes narrowed and she flung her hair back as she turned away. She grabbed a chair from the kitchen and brought it back to the camera holding it up high, posed to strike. She knew from experience that they _really_ did not like it when she broke their cameras. "Going to talk now?" she asked one more time.

Then the intercom clicked on. It was not the same voice that she usually talked to. She supposed that guy, whoever he was, was already off for the day. _"It was decided that there needed to be some kind of punishment for your outburst in the test room today."_ Homura's eyes narrowed as she tensed her hands around the chair legs. _"If there are no more issues with you over the next few days, your television privileges will be restored to you. That includes not breaking any of our equipment, Mrs. Akemi."_ This guy at least had a little more personality in his voice then the usual guy. Homura scowled, and lowered the chair. Instead of striking the camera, she just threw it against a wall. Then she went back to the living room and sat down on the couch with folded arms and an angry look on her face.

**III**

She had been here for just over two weeks now, and she was starting to go a tad stir crazy. Not having the TV made things a little worse, but whether or not she had television and games to play made little difference in her overall satisfaction of the situation she was in. She cursed herself for allowing this to happen.

After Walpurgis Night they had apparently been stalking her for quite a while. Luckily, she did not team up with the other girls in that time, so their identities were not revealed as well. Still, she cursed herself for not noticing anything sooner. The thing is, she had never had to worry about something like that before. Of course, making a public display of her power by predicting the future and sending out warnings of an upcoming disaster gave her a lot of attention. She should have known something like this might happen, and she should have prepared for it. Alas, she did not, and now that she was here she had to make the best of her situation and figure a way out of it.

She sat at the kitchen table, doing a puzzle. It was a one-thousand-piece puzzle, and she had been working on it for just over two hours now. She was only about half way done, but of course the second half of a puzzle was always the easiest. She joined a large section she had been working on to its place on the main piece when the intercom buzzed on.

_"Homura,"_ it said; it was the same monotone guy she was used to hearing. She decided to start referring to him as _Dr. Mono_.

"What do you want?"

_"We have made a slight alteration to your schedule tonight. There is a psychologist coming into your room to meet with you. She should be there in about an hour. If you are cooperative and don't cause any trouble for her, we will return your TV privileges a day early."_

Homura raised an eyebrow. "Psychologist? Why are you even bothering with something like that?"

_"We are trying to avoid another situation like what happened in the test room yesterday. Also, just for your information, the testing session we had planned for tomorrow has been postponed until we come up with more secure arrangements to test you under."_

"Whatever," she said. "Is that all?" Dr. Mono did not bother saying anything else to her.

She went back to her bedroom and picked out some different clothes to wear. Right now she was just wearing sweatpants and a loose black shirt. She took the clothes to the bathroom, which is the only room that did not have a camera in it (at least one that could be seen), and she got changed. As long as she was stuck here, she figured she might as well try and keep her appearance up, and at least maintain _some_ of her dignity. When she was done changing, she made some tea for herself back in the kitchen and resumed working on her puzzle while she waited for this psychologist to show up.

She was well over a third of the way done when the intercom buzzed on again. _"Homura,"_ said Dr. Mono, _"Dr. Sakura will be coming in now."_

_Sakura?_ What a coincidence, Homura thought. That was also Kyoko's family name. Well, it was a common enough name, she supposed. She just hummed and continued working on her puzzle. She decided she would just give this psychologist the silent treatment. She hoped she would not stay for too long.

The front door beeped and hissed open. On Homura's first day here she had stopped time when that door opened, and tried to slip out. It seemed her enemy was smart enough to plan for that, however, because behind that door was just another identical steel door with only a few meters between them. Those two doors would never be opened at the same time, so it was impossible to slip out that way. Even if she did manage to get through the second door, just about every door in the hall that followed was the same, so escape was basically impossible.

Dr. Sakura came in, wearing a white overcoat and a notebook held in her arm, against her chest. She wore glasses and had long red hair which she tied back in a ponytail.

Funny, Homura thought, besides having the same family name as Kyoko she actually looked quite similar to her as well, almost as if she could be an older sister. Homura knew that was not that case, Kyoko only had a younger sister who had passed away. Perhaps a distant cousin? It was certainly possible.

"Hello," said Dr. Sakura. She stood a few feet back from Homura who was just staring at her. "You must be Homura Akemi. I'm so glad to get to meet you. May I take a seat?" Homura nodded.

Dr. Sakura sat down across from her and set down her notebook. "I had been trying to convince them to allow me to talk to you for a while now. I finally got them to agree after yesterday’s incident in the test room. I suppose I should thank you for that." She smiled.

Homura raised an eyebrow. There was something strange going on here. It was something in the doctor's voice. "I'm Dr. Sakura. I hope we can be friends. Actually, if you like you can just call me by my personal name, _Kay._ "

_Kay?_ That name alone could also have been another coincidence, but the sudden grin that came over _Dr. "K" Sakura's_ face said it all. Homura's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Kay? K-Kyoko?"

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Now what could that mean?" It was clear she was actually trying to say: _"Don't blow my cover! You idiot!"_

* * *

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!**

**More chapters for this story are posted on FFN, but I plan to post one chapter a week here on AO3 until it is caught up. I'm doing this because I wrote this story a long time ago and am currently going back and doing some editing to touch it up since my writing style has improved since then. Therefore, I'd recommend just keeping up with the updated chapters as they are posted here, but if you can't wait and want to continue right away you can go look for this on FFN as well.**

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**-Atomyst**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 

**I**

"Are you and Homura fighting right now?" Junko Kaname asked her daughter, after spitting toothpaste into the sink. "She hasn't been over in a while."

"No," Madoka said through her own toothbrush. She held her hair back with one hand and spat into the sink as well. "She's... She's just away right now." Junko looked down at her, feeling as though there is something she was not saying. Normally she always knew exactly what was on her daughter's mind. Lately however, Madoka had been much more of a closed book. "She'll be back soon though," Madoka said, with a smile.

Junko had first noticed Madoka becoming distant a couple of months ago when Sayaka was having a fight with their friend Hitomi over a boy. She was not sure why something like that would cause Madoka to act so strangely, but it turned out there was actually another reason for her behavior. It was several weeks later when Junko had met Homura for the first time that it all started to make sense.

Madoka brought Homura home one day, and they stood hand-in-hand as Madoka announced that this was her girlfriend. Junko was taken aback at first, having not realized this about her own daughter until then. She supposed having a tomboy friend like Sayaka growing up may have had something to do with it. She didn't have a problem with it of course; she was happy her daughter had found someone, boy or girl. All the same, Madoka's revelation had come as a bit of a surprise to her.

Her husband had offered for Homura to stay for dinner straight away, which Homura accepted, with a bit of an awkward blush creeping onto her face. Junko, after regaining her composure, went right to fawning over how cute she was, which deepened the ravenette’s  blush even further. Madoka laughed, and so did Homura - a bit shyly - and she had instantly become a part of the family.

Junko found that she really liked Homura. She seemed like a strong and caring person, and she was always very polite. She was a bit shy and withdrawn, it seemed, but Madoka appeared to smooth that side of her over a bit. She thought the two of them really were great together. 

However, soon after the disaster that had the whole town evacuated, Homura abruptly stopped coming over. It did not make sense for such a sudden change so Junko asked again, "Are you sure everything's alright? You know you can tell me about anything, right?"

"Yes, really," Madoka assured her. "Everything's great! She'll be back soon, I just miss her a little bit is all." She smiled again, and Junko guessed that her daughter was being honest after all. Sure, she was not as communicative as she use to be, but Junko thought back to when she was in that age herself, and realized it was natural for teenage girls not to be so open with their parents. Especially once they have started dating.

Breakfast went normally enough, and when they were all done Madoka announced that she was going over to Mami's house to do some studying with her and Sayaka. 

"Okay," Junko said, "Just make sure you call if you're going to be late coming home."

"I will, mom. Bye!"

Madoka decided to take the city bus in order to get there sooner. Normally she would be just fine with the walk, since it was such a nice day, but she was anxious to hear about how things had gone last night. Kyoko had infiltrated the laboratory, but Madoka had to go home before hearing the results of the mission. Madoka had been so worried about Homura these last two weeks, but Mami assured her that in the end everything would be fine.

_ "Yeah," _ Sayaka had chimed in,  _ "With four Magical Girls on the job, those suckers don't stand a chance! In fact, there's five of us if you count Homura herself. They really picked the wrong people to try and mess with, you know?" _

Still, Madoka could not help but worry. It was a dangerous thing they were all involved in, especially Kyoko. If something had gone wrong Kyoko could be locked up right along with Homura right now. Without her enchantment magic, finding another way into the laboratory would be difficult.

Kyoko had once suggested that they all just storm the building and take Homura back by force, but Mami had flat-out refused this suggestion. She said as an absolute last resort they could start to think about considering that, but it was not something they should do unless there was no other choice.

Madoka tried to stay positive, and just have faith in her friends. Things would be okay. She knew they would all come through in the end.

She made it to Mami's apartment and let herself in. She knew she was already expected, so there was no need to knock. When she entered, she looked around. Neither Mami, Sayaka, nor Kyoko were anywhere to be seen. Leiko, however, sat in front of an elaborate computer station she had set up in Mami's living room. She was deeply focused on the screen, clicking and typing away at a rapid pace. She seemed not to notice Madoka's presence at all.

"Um... Good morning Amaya-san," Madoka said to her, not yet feeling close enough to call her by her first name. Leiko still seemed not to have noticed her, so Madoka stepped closer to the white-haired girl and spoke louder, "Um, where is everyone?"

Leiko jumped suddenly, startled, and her typing ceased as she looked over to Madoka with an annoyed look on her face. "Kyoko is still in bed. Mami and Sayaka are out on the balcony."

"Kyoko is back? She made it back okay?"

Leiko nodded and pushed up her thickly rimmed glasses that had started to fall off her face. "Indeed. I provided her with a solid identity, so she would have had to screw things up pretty badly to get caught."

"D-did she get to see Homura?"

Leiko just nodded again in response, and tried to turn back to her computer to end the conversation, but Madoka pushed on.

"Is Homura okay?"

"I guess. Look, I don't know. Ask Kyoko about it when she gets up." With that, she cut Madoka off completely and went back to vigorously plugging away at the giant computer terminal.

It was a relief to hear that things had gone well. Although, she would feel better when she got more details than Leiko's short indignant responses were able to provide. She did not dislike Leiko, but she seemed like a hard person to get along with. She had this way of always treating people as if they are beneath her. This had led to some close confrontations with both Kyoko and Sayaka, but Mami and Madoka usually managed to calm things down before the fighting got too serious. Besides, Leiko had been a huge help to them. If it were not for Leiko's hacking skills they never would have been able to get Kyoko into the laboratory in the first place.

Leiko was a Magical Girl, but she was certainly of a different breed. She admittedly was not much use in fights against witches, as her magic mainly had to do with altering things on the Internet. Madoka honestly did not understand how it worked. She tried to ask Leiko about it before, but the small white-haired girl just looked at her with a bored expression and said:  _ "I could TRY to explain it to you, but I doubt you would comprehend any of it even if I did." _ Sayaka had overheard this, and walked over to her with a raised fist, but Madoka had quickly gotten between them and guided her away. It seemed Leiko had not even noticed Sayaka doing any of that, for she remained locked onto her computer without giving any acknowledgement.

Madoka went to the back of the apartment and stepped out onto the small Balcony. Mami was sitting down at a small table with a cup of tea. Sayaka was leaning her back against the railing and looking out over the cityscape horizon, a soft wind blowing her short blue hair.

"Oh, good morning Madoka," Mami said to her.

"Hello, how are you?" Madoka smiled.

"Hey, Madoka!" Sayaka waved to her.

"Um, what are the two of you doing out here?"

"Oh man," Sayaka said, "I just finally needed a break from _Miss_ _Congeniality_ in there!" She put her hands around her throat and acted as if she were choking herself.

Mami just smiled. "She can be a bit eccentric, it seems."

"She told me Kyoko made it back okay," said Madoka, breaching into the subject.

"Yes, things went better than expected," Mami said, and sipped her tea. "We haven't heard much about it ourselves, yet. Kyoko got in rather late and went to bed almost instantly. She just put a thumb up and smiled, and went into the bedroom. I imagine using her enchantment magic for long periods of time takes a toll on her."

"Do you know how Homura is doing?" Madoka asked.

"It seems things are okay with her," Sayaka answered. "Like Mami said, Kyoko didn't tell us much, but I could tell by the look on her face that things are okay."

"Good... I mean, they're not... not... punishing her? For tearing up their test room the other day?"

Sayaka burst out laughing at the question. "Oh man, get this, they took away her  _ TV _ ! Leiko told us, she saw it written in their logs. Heh, I wonder how it went. Did they just come into her room and tell her: 'RAWR! NO TV FOR A WEEK! YOU'RE GROUNDED!'" Sayaka could not help the grin that was spreading over her face - she was clearly very amused by the scenario. It made Madoka feel a little better, too. She had gone through some nightmare scenarios in her own head about how poorly Homura might be getting treated in there, but it sounded like things were not too bad. No doubt Sayaka knew this as well, and was trying to lighten the mood.

In actuality, there was a darker side to the scenario that they had agreed to keep away from Madoka for now, lest she worry too much. First of all, Madoka did not know about the taser, or the drugs they had pumped into the side of her neck while she was out. On top of that, there were some conversations in the logs discussing introducing mood altering drugs into her food. Also, it seemed they had figured out her power does not work if she is tied down. There were some troubling things revealed in their notes related to this, although it seemed they had not acted on any of it yet.

The three girls became quiet as they thought things over. Mami, not wanting to lead Madoka too far astray on the seriousness of the situation, said: "There is still a long road ahead of us. We'll have Kyoko getting in there on a regular basis now. She'll be able to smuggle some GriefSeeds in and help keep her SoulGem purified. However, we don't have much of a plan for actually getting her out yet. Also, I worry Homura might push her luck with them too far. She was never one for taking orders from others very easily, you know."

"That's true," Madoka said, suddenly becoming more downcast.

"But don't worry," Mami reassured her, "You know we are all doing our best for her, so things will work out." This returned the smile to Madoka's face and she nodded.

Then, Kyoko stepped out onto the balcony. 

"Hey, morning sunshine!" Sayaka said. Kyoko was still dressed in her night clothes, with heavy bags under her eyes, a cup of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other. She moved over to Sayaka and leaned forward to give her a quick peck on the lips. She then sat down at the table across from Mami.

Kyoko turned to Madoka and put a thumb up. "Homura's looking good," she said, through a mouthful of doughnut.

"Come on, girl, we want details!" Sayaka started, "Seriously, how long are you planning to leave us in suspense?"

Kyoko rubbed her eyes and swallowed. "Can I at least finish my breakfast first?"

Sayaka grinned. "No way."

Kyoko took another big bite from the doughnut. "Alright, fine..." And she began to tell the story.

**II**

Getting inside turned out to be easier than she had thought. Really, the hard part was the night before, when Mami was quizzing her on details about her alias 'Dr. Kay Sakura'. Leiko had started off the quizzing (as she was the one who made up most of the details in the first place), but she became far too frustrated when Kyoko didn't get an answer right, which in turn got Kyoko angry with her. So, to avoid letting World War Three start, Mami had taken over on the study session.

As a group, the five of them had also brainstormed questions a psychologist might ask Homura in a situation like this. They had to keep up the appearance that she was indeed a psychologist, after all. Luckily, Kyoko did not have to memorize any of that, as they allowed her to write it down in a notebook that she was to bring in with her. Mami also suggested that she be polite - but short - with anyone she met in there. If she got sucked into a long conversation, it meant more chances for her identity to be found out. Still, they practised a few conversation skills, just in case. The hardest part was getting Kyoko to stop using swear words and slang terms.

When they thought she was ready, Kyoko used her enchantment magic to make herself appear as though she were in her late twenties. Leiko set up the appointment via email, and thus the plan had taken off. Mami also provided her with a spare GriefSeed to take to Homura. She had been stuck in there for over two weeks already, so chances of her magic running low were high. The plan for tonight was to just lay low, make note of anything that might be useful for future escape attempts, and to let Homura know that her friends had not abandoned her.

When Kyoko made it into the laboratory, all she had to do was go to the front desk and state her name and that she had an appointment. That desk led her to another desk, and another, and another, until finally one of them sent her on an elevator that took her far below the basement level. Once down there, she was greeted by two armed guards.  _ This place is way too secure, _ she thought,  _ just what kind of stuff do they got going on down here? _ She would not get any answers to that question, however, because from there on all she saw was white walls and metal doors.

After going through the third set of metal doors, Kyoko realized breaking Homura out was going to be far harder than they had originally thought. Well, finding out things like this is the main reason she was here, so at least her current mission was going well so far.

Finally, they brought her to a room with normal wooden doors, and sat her down on a couch. Apparently  _ “Dr. Endou” _ wanted to speak with her before she met with Homura.  _ Great _ , she thought, feeling just a little nervous. Originally she was not too worried because she thought she could just bust her way out if things went south. The way it was looking now, though, she would have a hard time escaping if they saw through her disguise. 

_ It's all good,  _ Kyoko thought _ , just like Mami said. Short and polite.  _

He called her into his office after a few minutes.  _ Showtime _ . 

She walked into a colorful well-lit room, and thought how much of a difference it was from the rest of this place. He had family pictures on his desk, a few paintings on the walls, and a small fish tank with a goldfish swimming around in it. In the family photograph, Kyoko noticed a teenage girl. She wondered how he would feel if  _ his _ daughter had been kidnapped and locked up in some room underground?

The man himself was a clean-cut gentleman who appeared to be in his late-forties. His face did not hold much expression, he had a thick boxy build, and Kyoko noted how his chin line was parallel with his square shoulders.

"Doctor Sakura," he said, gesturing to a chair opposite from where he sat behind his desk. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you," she said as she sat down.

"It's good to finally meet you in person."

"Yes, I'm glad we managed to work things out."

"You had shown interest in this project early on. We did not think your services would be necessary, but after a certain incident the other day we thought it might be a good idea. You also came highly recommended from several contacts of ours who had been recommending psychological evaluations." Those supposed contacts of his were all just smoke and mirrors set up by Leiko. Leiko did not do a great job explaining exactly how she put all this together, but whatever the hell she had done seemed to be working.

"I'll do my best to live up to my reputation. Will I be meeting with Akemi soon?" She wanted to stray him away from the topic before he started coming up with questions about her past work and how she knew this contact and that. She had studied the answers to those possible questions, but still wanted to avoid them.

"Yes, momentarily," he said, shuffling through some papers. "I told her you would be coming in soon, but before that I want to brief you on how we expect this to go." Kyoko nodded, signaling for him to continue. "First of all, I'm the lead researcher of this project, and while you are here you are thought to be on contract working directly under me. Therefore, any questions you have related to Subject One should be brought to me. Any suggestions you make must be approved by me, and I have the final say in anything related to her  _ treatment _ . Is all this alright with you so far?" 

Kyoko nodded.

"Furthermore, the rules of patient confidentiality do not apply here. I want to know everything that is said to her and said  _ by  _ her. You won't need to trouble yourself with this, though, we have recording devices in her room that will record everything for me. However, I expect a weekly report of your personal thoughts and findings, which can be delivered to me via email on our secure servers. Is all this acceptable?"

"I would prefer to work with her in private, but if that can not be done then yes, it is acceptable."

"Good. None of your own personal recording devices are allowed in the room. If you need to review one of your sessions with her, you can see me about getting a copy of our footage from that day. However, this copy must remain in the lab, and not be altered or re-recorded."

"Naturally."

"Now, you understand that Subject One is thought to be highly dangerous. In our emails I had suggested to you that you meet with her behind glass, but you seemed pretty adamant about refusing those conditions. Do you still stand by that?"

"I do. I won't be able to do my work properly and make a connection with her if we are not meeting face-to-face." She was reciting a well rehearsed answer that Leiko and Mami had written for her. "I accept the risk associated with the subject. Although, based on the notes you have provided to me about her, I don't think I will be in a high risk situation. She doesn't seem to lash out for no reason, only when she is provoked, and even in those instances she doesn't seem to want to cause irreparable harm to anyone."

"All the same, we will be watching closely from the security cameras. Also, we will have guards stationed outside the room in case there is an issue. We have come up with a way of detaining her in case of an outburst, so you should be fine. So, that just about wraps all of that up." He folded his hands and made an expression that she supposed was meant to be a smile, but his face did not seem capable of moving in that way "Any questions?"

"No, I think we have covered everything."

Dr. Endou pushed a button on his keyboard and spoke into a microphone. "Homura. Dr. Sakura will be coming in now."

**III**

Kyoko was quick to gloss over Homura quite nearly blowing her cover. "Anyway, how are you doing today? Mrs. Akemi."

"F-f-f-fine." She could not believe it. It was Kyoko! It was really Kyoko! How was this possible, though?

Homura had been captured soon after Mami met Leiko and recruited her to their team, so her interactions with Leiko had been limited. Homura had met Leiko once, but did not know about her peculiar form of magic. Therefore, she was clueless to how Kyoko possibly could have gotten this far under an alias.

"Just fine? Are you sure about that?" Kyoko spoke with intensity, looking her in the eyes and trying to tell her to wipe that shocked look off her face and start playing along. Homura got the message.

She folded her arms and turned away from  _ “Dr. Sakura”. _ Her voice took on the irritated tone she would have given to the real Dr. Sakura, if one actually existed. "Yeah, just fine. Like I said."

"That was quite a violent outburst in the testing room the other day. Would you like to talk about that?" Homura kept her arms folded, and looked away with an angry glare in her eyes. 

_ Geeze! What the hell's your problem?!  _ was Kyoko's initial thought, until she reminded herself that Homura was putting on an act, and Kyoko slipped back into character herself:

"Like I said, I would like for us to be friends. I know we just met, but I'm here to help you, and I want you to know you can talk to me about things. If you would rather not talk about that right now, that's fine, though."

Homura sighed, and brushed her hair back. She looked to the ceiling, and her expression became distant for a moment, letting a small smile touch the corner of her lips ever so briefly. Then she looked back to Kyoko with a shy, hurt expression. "I was upset. I don't want to be here. I feel as though my heart is filled with  _ grief _ , as if my  _ soul _ is  _ hidden _ away in  _ this place _ ." When she said _ ‘this place’ _ her fingers pointed between her breasts. 

_ Damn, _ thought Kyoko,  _ someone give this girl an academy award _ ! She got the message. Homura was saying she needed a GriefSeed, and she also stated that she had managed to keep her SoulGem secret from her captors.

"If there was something to help with the grief, I would like to give it to you..." Kyoko looked around, trying to think of a way to slip the GriefSeed to her. Then she noticed an open notebook with a drawing of a cat inside it. "Did you draw that?" She asked. She glanced around a bit more, and noted a camera to her back and a camera to her right. "May I see it?"

"I guess," said Homura, as she slid the notebook over to her. Kyoko sneakily put her hand into her pocket and hid the GriefSeed in her palm. As the notebook was passed to her, she lifted up the back cover so the camera would not be able to see inside, and she passed it into Homura's hand, hidden behind that small blind spot.

"Would you like some tea, Kay?" Homura asked her, with a shy smile. She now had the GriefSeed hidden inside her own palm.

"Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you."

Then there was a bright flash of light as Homura transformed into her Magical Girl uniform and disappeared, reappearing again in what seemed like a split second. She was now standing over the table and there was a cup of tea sitting in front of Kyoko. Kyoko jumped back, trying her best to look surprised.

While time was stopped, Homura used the GriefSeed to purify her SoulGem. When that was done, she went into the kitchen to pour the tea, and slipped the spent GriefSeed back into Kyoko's pocket before resuming time.

She stood over the table with a humorous smile spread across her face. Kyoko tried her best to react appropriately, as someone who had heard of magic but has just now actually seen it for the first time. "Th-that's quite impressive, Miss Akemi."

"Please, just call me Homura," she said with a smile as she took her seat again. With another flash of light her clothing returned to normal.

"Alright, Homura it is then." Kyoko looked back to the drawing. "This is very good. Do you draw often?"

"I never used to before. I started doing it as a way to pass the time when I was taken here." She leaned back, letting a sad expression come over her face once more. "I drew that one for a friend of mine. I don't think I'll ever get a chance to give it to her... But... since we are going to be friends, would you like to have it?"

Kyoko nodded. "Thank you, I would love to keep it."

They spent the rest of their time together casually talking about TV shows and movies. Kyoko helped her finish the puzzle she had been working on, and also looked through some more of her drawings. After about an hour and a half of this, Dr. Endou (or Dr. Mono, as Homura knew him as) announced that Homura would be needing to get some rest soon, as not to affect tomorrow's schedule.

"Alright. I guess that's all for today," Kyoko said. "I can come back again in three days. Would you like that?"

"Of course," said Homura, with a smile. "I can't wait."

**III**

Sayaka had brought out another two doughnuts for Kyoko as she told the story. She was now stuffing the last of it into her mouth. "When I left the room I talked with Endou again. He totally bought the act! He said he couldn't believe I had gotten on her good side so quickly. I said something like,  _ 'She is a young girl, and she is lonely. She just needed a friend.' _ Or something like that. Anyway, I'm good for two sessions with her every week now." She grinned and put a thumb up, then looked over to Madoka. "Oh yeah, and before I forget. Hang on a sec." Kyoko left the balcony then returned with a folded sheet of paper. "I'm pretty sure this was actually meant for you."

Madoka took it from her and unfolded it. A big smile forced itself onto her face, although she sniffed as light tears started to fall from her eyes. She sat down at the table and leaned over the cat drawing. She was still smiling, despite the tears.

"Madoka?" Sayaka asked, after a while. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Then she got up again and threw her arms around Kyoko. Kyoko stepped back a bit, feeling embarrassed, but then returned the hug. "Thank you so much!" Madoka said, crying. Mami and Sayaka shot each other a look, conferring a mutual feeling.

"Hey, no problem. She's my friend too, you know."

After releasing Kyoko, Madoka rushed into the house. Leiko was in there, still clicking away in front of the massive computer terminal, numbers and letters and symbols Madoka had never seen before rushed past the screen. Madoka came up behind her and threw her arms around her as she had done with Kyoko.

Leiko screamed in surprise, nearly losing her glasses. Then she realized who it was and tried to pull away. "Woah, hey! What's the deal?" But Madoka refused to let go of the small snowy haired girl.

She whispered, "Thank you for everything, Leiko."

 

* * *

 

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**-Atomyst**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**I**

Homura was shaken awake by a loud buzz as all the lights in her apartment suddenly kicked on. With a grunt, she pulled the covers over her face, then cautiously peeked out, letting her eyes adjust to the light.

_ "Homura," _ came Dr. Mono's voice.  _ "You will be taken in for testing in one hour. You should take this time to get ready." _

From under the covers, her half-opened eyes looked over to the clock on her nightstand:  _ 8:00 am _ . She pulled the blanket back over herself and curled up into a ball. "What if I refuse?" she asked disdainfully.

_ "Then we will make arrangements to take you in forcibly, in which case we will also ban your TV privileges for an additional period of time." _ Then the intercom clicked off, and Dr. Mono seemed to have nothing more to say on the matter.

She allowed herself to stay sheltered under the covers for another fifteen minutes, but ultimately did get up. What she knew about her enemy was this: when they said nine, they meant nine. She could try planting her feet and refusing to move, which she had done plenty of times before, but it never worked out for her in the end.

On one occasion, on her first week here, she spent a full twenty minutes resisting them. She used her magic to shift all over the apartment while the guards ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to grab her. She even stopped time and rolled up some bed sheets to use as rope and tie them up. There was a certain satisfaction she had not felt in a long time as she laughed and watched them squirm. Eventually, Dr. Mono's voice had come over the intercom again and said:  _ "Alright, Homura. Have it your way," _ and the guards scrambled back out of the apartment.

Homura had sat down on the couch with folded arms and a look of triumph spread across her face. That is, until she heard a low hissing sound coming from somewhere in the room. It took her only a moment to realize that in several places, high on the walls, panels had opened up with hoses that were pumping gas into the room. She ran over to the front camera and started yelling at it, demanding an explanation, but got no response. Even after using a chair to smash the camera to pieces, Dr. Mono had stayed completely silent as the room continued to fill with gas.

She had run around the room with her shirt pulled over her mouth, trying to think of something. She stopped time and gathered things to plug the hoses with. Unfortunately, there just was not enough rags and pillowcases in the house to plug them all, so she had no choice but to resume time and wait for whatever was about to happen. Before resuming time, she had used magic to push her Soul Gem inside herself, just in case they decided to strip her naked while she was out. She knew it would be bad if they ever discovered the real source of her power, so above all else she had to keep it hidden.

After only a minute of breathing the gas, she fainted. When she woke up, she was strapped down to an operating table, staring at a bright fluorescent light with a group of doctors poking and prodding at her as she laid there in nothing but a loose hospital gown. Later that night, she found that her refrigerator had been cleared out with nothing left but frozen vegetables... It was three days before they had stocked her up with normal food again...

She yawned and stretched, sitting on the side of her bed. She got up and selected a change of clothes, even though they were going to have her change into a hospital gown soon, and then walked to the bathroom.

As far as she could tell, the bathroom was the only place in the apartment that did not have cameras. In her first week she had checked  _ very _ thoroughly, scrutinizing every shampoo bottle, pulling off the air vents, unscrewing light bulbs, and once she had even shattered the mirror off the wall. They replaced the mirror a day later and Dr. Mono asked her not to do that again, and promised her that the bathroom was the one place they were allowing her privacy, as long as she did not abuse it and try to get away with something. She honestly didn't know what that something could be anyway, so she respected the condition. The only thing she ever 'got away with' in the bathroom was a few lonely nights in the bathtub, thinking about Madoka.

She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and combed her hair. She then got changed and went to the kitchen. Looking at the clock, she saw she still had twenty minutes left, so she fired up the stove, grabbed a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator, and threw some bread into the toaster.

She wondered what they had in store for her today. They did not test her every day, but it was at least a few times a week. Most of the time the tests were pretty mundane: teleport over here, move this over there... Her enemy apparently was not very creative.

Sometimes they would just take her into a room and ask her questions. They would ask about her powers; when she first noticed she had them, if there was anyone else who could do what she could, how she knew about the disaster, if she had any other visions of the future, and if anyone else knows what she can do... etcetera...

She played stupid on most of these questions. She did not tell them that she was from the future. To the question of how she knew about the disaster: she simply shrugged her shoulders and said  _ 'I just knew' _ . She claimed she first noticed her powers after waking up in the hospital a few months ago, when she first recovered from being sick. She claimed to not know how or why she has these power, and she has not had any other visions, but if she did she promised to let them know.

The question she was most adamant on playing stupid about is whether or not there are any other Magical Girls in the world. She imagined the existence of Magical Girls was made known in the past, which is probably what led to all those old stories about witch hunts. In today's age of mass media and record keeping it would be a disaster for Magical Girls everywhere if people knew about them, and that was not something she wanted to be held responsible for.

The days she had to be the most on edge is when they wanted to actually examine her body and her Magical Girl related gadgets. On these days she took the same approach to the questioning, and refused to cooperate with them. Since she had to be transformed for most of her powers to work they could not just knock her out and do their experiments. They needed her to cooperate.

She had to make sure they didn't learn about her shield space. That is where her trump card was hidden, and she certainly could not let them know about her Soul Gem. She could only imagine the horrors they would put her through if they had that little gem to start running experiments on.

The eggs were now spotted with a soft golden brown, so she moved them over to the plate and started buttering the bread. She poured herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge and moved her breakfast over to the dining room table.

Kyoko coming here made her a bit nervous. She was deeply relieved to be in contact with her friends again, but there were a lot of dangers involved too. If she were to get caught, and they were to figure out that Kyoko also had powers, it would certainly lead to them seeking out even more Magical Girls. Right now, if Homura can keep them under the assumption that it is only she who has powers, then there will remain a level of doubt whether more girls like her could exist or not.

Thinking of Kyoko, Homura still had no idea how she managed to get in here in the first place. Dr. Kay Sakura was obviously a completely fictional character, so it is not like she just took over an already existing identity, and Homura was pretty sure her enemy did not just go leafing through the yellow pages for psychologists. Homura imagined even knowing about Subject One's existence was highly classified information.

Homura would have to try and get a private conversation in with Kyoko on their next session together, so she could get some answers to these questions. They needed Kyubey to use telepathy, and ever since they had a falling out with the rat he had not been very helpful in working with them. Besides, Homura was pretty sure Kyubey was anxiously waiting for her to turn into a witch down here and would not help them even if they  _ were  _ on speaking terms.

So, with the telepathy option out, her best option would be to try and pull Kyoko into her time flow so they could chat. She had to be careful with that though. Her enemy would recognize what she had done, and put Kyoko under some serious scrutiny about what Homura said and did while time was frozen. It would be tricky, but she did have a plan hatching. One that involved taking a certain psychologist hostage and using her as a bargaining chip. Kyoko would be pretty pissed off about that plan, and part of Homura wanted to go through with it just to see the look on her face and hear her particular set of colorful vocabulary words. The plan still had some pretty big fallouts that she was working on, but she would iron it all out in time.

She was just about finished with her breakfast when the clock struck 9:00 am, and Dr. Mono's voice came over the speaker  _ "Homura, your escorts will be entering the room momentarily." _

She mopped up the last of egg yolk with the bread and stuffed it into her mouth, before bringing the dish over to the sink to run some hot water over it. Then she went back to the main room to await her 'escorts'.

The metal door beeped and slid open, revealing two guards in their white security uniforms. No guns this time,  _ smart _ , but they did have something else. Each of them held a three-foot pole with a wire noose at the end. It looked like something a dog catcher might use to leash an unsuspecting pooch around the neck. Homura just stood and stared at them.

One of the guards stepped forward and said "Please turn around and put your hands behind your back, Miss Akemi." Homura did not obey this order. Instead, she pulled her magic and became covered in rainbow light as she started walking towards them. "H-halt!" he shouted foolishly, and his hand reached for the taser at his side. The transformation completed, and Homura  _ blinked _ \- disappearing and reappearing right in front of him.

She took a note from Kyoko and gave him some choice words: "Put so much as a finger on that thing, and I'll break your wrist and shove ten thousand volts up your ass." They both got the message and cleared a path as she continued to walk toward the camera.

"What the hell is this?" she demanded, staring right up into its lense.

It took a moment for Dr. Mono to respond, in the meantime Homura continued to stare the camera down with her dark intense eyes. 

_ "The escorts were given orders to detain you while you are led to the test room. Since you betrayed our trust the other day we are forced to take measures to ensure the safety of our staff." _

"If you think I'm going to go along with something like that, you are out of your damn mind!"

_ "Please consider your options, Miss Akemi. We have other ways of bringing you along if you're unwilling. Also, we ask that you do not bring any harm to these men in the meantime." _

She gritted her teeth and her fists balled at her sides. "Bring it on!" she screamed. "Tase me, gas me, drug me! I don't give a damn! There's no way I'm going to be led around on a leash like a damn dog!" Her anger was becoming too much for her, and she could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, but she held it back.

_ "Very well, Miss Akemi, the escorts will be leaving now. Please allow them to do so." _

Homura turned to the guards, eyes bloodshot and pulsing with fury. They both flinched back at the sight of her, and froze, not sure if it would be wise to take their leave or not. With gritted teeth Homura whispered in a cold murderous voice,  _ "Go," _ and they were both quick to obey as they scurried past her and out the metal door.

She kept her back to the camera, and once they were gone the gears of her shield bagan spinning.

Now she was alone in her own time, where no one could see her or bother her, tell her what to do or treat her like an animal. She fell to her knees and she screamed, tears falling from her eyes as she rained her fists down on the hard tile floor. She struck the floor over and over, until her knuckles were scratched and bleeding. Eventually, the pain got through to her, and she stopped.

She stood up and stormed over to the dining room. She grabbed a chair and threw it at the wall. It froze in mid-air before reaching its destination. She then grabbed another one and starting hitting the wall directly. It took a few strikes to make it shattered into pieces which froze as they broke away. She was left holding a single chair leg, which she used to go around to all the cameras and smash them off the walls.

After that, she started pacing around the apartment and looking for more things to break. She smashed the TV, the bathroom mirror, knocked over the stand full of DVDs, stomped on the gaming console, and went to the kitchen and threw dishes by the stack. She didn't care about any of this. She didn't care if they took everything away from her and just left her in a small white box with nothing. She was sick of this, she was sick of being here. She felt guilty about the risk her friends were taking for her, and she missed Madoka.

When her anger was all out and she was satisfied that she had done enough, she sat down on the couch. She sat with her hands on her head and her dark hair falling over her wet face.

She let time resume. The room exploded with a series of bangs and crashes, and pieces of broken furniture rained down around her. The TV exploded in front of her and sent shards of glass flying everywhere. The cameras fell from their places on the walls and smashed on the floor.

She continued to sit, and wait for the gas, now thinking how stupid all of this was. Really, she only hurt herself because those were all her own things she had just smashed. Except they were not really  _ her  _ things, it was  _ their _ things she had smashed. They were things that her enemy had given to her so they could act like it was okay that they had locked her up down here; so they could pretend it is alright to experiment on her and keep her away from her friends; so they could chastise her as if they were so innocent and she was in the wrong, and say,  _ “look at all we are doing for you and this is how you repay us?” _ She was done with it, she was done accepting their  _ hospitality _ .

She waited for the gas, but it never came. She lifted her head and looked along the walls to verify that the panels were not opening. What the hell were they waiting for? She wondered.

She listened closely. She could hear the soft buzzing of fluorescent lights -  _ and that is  _ all  _ she could hear... _

**II**

It was two days after Kyoko's first undercover mission. Madoka woke with a yawn, and smiled at the sun hitting her face. She had been uneasy ever since Homura first disappeared, and even more so when they figured out what had happened. Now, she was starting to feel at least a little better about the situation. Things no longer seemed so hopeless, and she was confident that they would be able to save Homura. It might be a while longer, as Mami said, but at least they were making progress.

It was also a relief to know Homura would have a friend in there. She knew Homura was always one to put on a tough face, but the truth was in a situation like this she would be scared and lonely just like anyone else. Madoka would have liked to be able to go visit herself, but of course it would be impossible since she was not a Magical Girl, and Kyoko was the only one who could change her appearance to make herself look like an adult. Still, it was a comfort to know Homura at least had  _ someone _ .

There was something else that was bothering her right now, though. Last night, Leiko and Sayaka had almost gotten into another fight.

It started when the five of them were sitting around the table, snacking on some pastries Mami had made and brainstorming their plans. Sayaka had cut in and said: "Hey guys, I was thinking, can I start helping out more with Kyoko's studying sessions?" They had decided that aside from just the details of the fictional Kay Sakura, Kyoko should also learn a few things about psychology to strengthen the believability of her character. "I really haven't been able to do much to help with all this," Sayaka confessed, "So I figure I could at least help out with that part. What do you think?"

Leiko cleared her throat, dropping a cube of sugar into her coffee, and said: "I would really be more comfortable if Mami just continued. We don't need you stepping in and messing things up." If this was the first jab Leiko had ever taken at Sayaka things might have been okay. However, she had finally pulled the last straw, and Sayaka was ready for a confrontation. Honestly, it was surprising it had not happened sooner.

"That's it!" Sayaka had shouted as she stood up and leaned over the table, rolling up a sleeve. "The hell's your problem, anyway? Are you looking for a fight or what?"

"Ooooo-KAY!" Kyoko cut in, quickly grabbing Sayaka by the collar and pulling her back. She grinned, "Why don't we all just take five?" and led Sayaka toward the balcony.

Leiko had dropped another few sugar cubes into her coffee and her hand was going back for more. "Honestly, it's bad enough we have to use Sakura. If we had someone with a little more class we wouldn't have to waste so much time on these study sessions in the first place."

Kyoko let go of Sayaka and started cracking her knuckles. Her good humored grin faded to a scolding frown and her eyes came alive with fire.  _ "That's it, she's dead." _

Now it was Sayaka's turn to drag Kyoko away; she laughed and said: "How about some fresh air?" seeming to have completely forgotten her own rage from only a moment ago.

Madoka had been quiet through all of that, not knowing how to fix things herself. Once they were gone Mami said: "Leiko, do you think you could try to be just a little more friendly with them?"

"What are you talking about? What I said is true, isn't it?" She dropped another couple of sugar cubes in, and seemed to have finally felt that was enough.

_ She sure likes things sweet,  _ Madoka thought.

"This isn't a game, you know,” Leiko continued, “and if she gets caught it's my ass on the line too. I did a pretty good job covering my tracks but I doubt it would hold up under a full scale government investigation. It would mean trouble for you as well, Mami. There's a chance they could trace things back to your apartment and even if they didn't catch you, your identity would be compromised.

"Although, I have to admit Kyoko is doing better than I thought she would. I honestly thought this whole thing would be a disaster, but she somehow managed to prove me wrong. So far, anyway."

_ Wow, _ Madoka had thought,  _ that almost sounded like a compliment. _

She knew deep down Leiko was a good person, but there was just that attitude of hers. She wanted all of them to be friends, but with Leiko being so absolutely opposed to opening up to anyone or even just showing basic common courtesies, she did not know how to do it.

She decided she would ask her mom for advice on this. She used to go to her mom for advice all the time, but ever since this whole Magical Girl thing started she knew she had to be careful with that. She disliked not telling her mom things, but she knew it had to stay secret. On something like this, at least, she figured she could go to her.

In a few minutes she was side by side with her at the bathroom sink, both of them brushing their teeth as was part of their morning ritual. When Madoka finished and spat into the sink she said: "Hey mom, can I ask you something?"

Her mom had started working on her make up, carefully applying eyeliner as she answered, "What is it, sweetie?"

"Well, I have a new friend, Leiko, who has been joining our study sessions over at Mami's house, but it seems like she is having trouble getting along with everyone else."

"Is it that she's not fitting in?"

"Not exactly, and honestly it's kinda her fault. I know that she is a nice person inside because she can be very helpful sometimes, but most of the time she is just very rude to everyone. She is quick to call someone stupid if they don't understand something, and she acts as though she is superior to everyone. If you try to talk to her she just brushes you off and acts like she is annoyed with you. I don't know how to make her lighten up."

"Hm, sounds like a real firecracker." Junko laughed. "Let me ask this: You, Sayaka, Mami, and... was it Kyoko? You've all been friends for a long time, right?" Madoka nodded in agreement. "And this Leiko is new to the group, isn't she?" Madoka nodded again. "Sounds to me like she might have some social anxiety issues. She is probably intimidated about being the black sheep in a group full of long term friends. Sometimes when people are self-conscious about something, they try to put others down to mask their own insecurities. Maybe if you could get to know her one-on-one, away from everyone else, she'd have an easier time opening up. Then, once she has at least one good friend in the group it will be easier for her to lighten up around the others." Junko winked. "You should see if you can convince her to go out on a date with you." Then, remembering her daughter's relationship with Homura, "Well, I don't mean like  _ that _ ."

"Hmm, yeah that sounds like a good idea." Madoka suddenly became so excited about the prospect that she rushed out of the bathroom to go find something cute to wear. She called back: "Thanks mom!"

**III**

Madoka arrived at Mami's apartment at around noon. Since she was not actually expected this time she knocked first, but did not get an answer. After a minute of waiting she opened the door and poked her head inside. 

"Hello?" 

There was no response but she did hear the clicking of a keyboard, and decided it would be okay to just go inside. Nobody else was home, except for Leiko who sat at her computer terminal clicking and tapping away, completely oblivious to anything else in the world around her, as always.

Madoka cleared her throat to try and get Leiko's attention, but when that didn't work she said, "Hey, Leiko." She said it softly, trying to avoid startling her again. It seemed it wasn't working, however. She positioned herself to Leiko's side and waved a hand, trying to get noticed in her peripheral vision, but that did not work either. "Leiko, good afternoon!" She tried again, still not too loudly. She took one more step forward and tried a third time: "Hey, Leiko!"

Leiko screamed, jumping back in her chair. She pushed her glasses back up and looked over to Madoka. "Oh, it's you."

"Sorry." Madoka smiled awkwardly. "I was trying not to startle you."

"It's fine," said Leiko, quickly turning back to her computer, as was her go-to move when trying to avoid conversation.

"Where is everyone else?" Madoka asked.

"Tomoe went shopping, Sakura and Miki haven't showed up yet today. They might be out on a witch hunt." The clicking and typing had already started again. 

Normally the conversation would end here, but after an awkward silence Madoka reached for something to say.

"This computer is really impressive, Leiko. I don't think I've ever seen one like it before... All I have at my house is a regular laptop." Leiko did not respond, and just continued typing away. "Um... do you have another one like it at your home?"

"No, the computer at my home is ordinary... since when have you started calling me by my personal name?" There was such an unnecessary level of resentment in Leiko's voice at that last part that it nearly killed all the confidence Madoka had to continue trying to make friends. She had encountered rude people in her life before, but she was sad to say Leiko might have been the absolute worst.

"I- um... well, you've been helping out so much lately. And, and, I thought we could be friends..." The clicking and typing continued. "Um... I can go back to calling you Amaya-san if that's what you prefer..."

"Whatever, it's fine." 

Well, at least she had permission to call her Leiko now, but they were once again in that awkward silence that felt as though the conversation should end.

However, Madoka gathered her courage. Mama would ask her how things went, and would be disappointed to hear that she had given up so easily. More than that, she would be disappointed in herself. She came over here with a purpose and she decided she would not give up. She didn't understand Leiko's character, but she knew there was a good person locked somewhere behind all the short remarks and bad temperaments. She was going to do her best to break through and reach that nice person!

"Say, Leiko..."

"Hm?"

"There's this really great coffee shop just down the street from here. I was thinking about heading down there, would you like to come?"

"I'll pass," Leiko answered, flatly.

"Are you sure?

"I'm busy."

"I mean, all I ever see you do is sit in front of this computer. Don't you ever take a break?"

"Sometimes."

"Well then, how about taking a break with me!"

Leiko stopped typing and turned to her with that conceited look of superiority. "Is it your mission to be extra annoying today, or is it just that there isn't anyone else around for you to bother? I  _ don't  _ want to go to some stupid coffee shop, especially not with an annoying girl like  _ you _ ."

Madoka took a full step back, and her mouth dropped open in shock. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. Leiko's lip raised slightly in what Madoka guessed was a smile. She seemed totally satisfied with herself as she turned back to the computer and continued as she was.

Then, Madoka shook away the shocked expression, and her face scrunched up and became red with anger. Her fists balled at her sides and she stormed away with heavy steps.

Leiko got back to work on whatever it was she was doing, seeming not to give the confrontation a second thought. Next thing she knew, she spotted some movement out of the corner of her eye. She tried her best to ignore it and not move her head, she figured taking notice would only open the door to more conversation. Then, she heard something set down on the floor right behind her, and she could feel Madoka's presence upon her. She knew Madoka was there, but Madoka was being completely silent.

After a full minute of this, Leiko couldn't take it anymore, and she turned her head to see what the hell that girl was doing.

She was sitting. She had grabbed a chair from the dining room and brought it back to sit over Leiko's shoulder and watch what she was doing. There she sat, saying not a word, just sitting with folded arms and an accomplished look on her face. Leiko pushed her glasses up and gave Madoka one of those classic Leiko expressions. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like? I'm sitting."

"I see that... but why right there?"

"I'm free to sit anywhere I want, right?"

Leiko scoffed and turned back to her computer. "Suit yourself."

Madoka watched the screen, not really sure what she was looking at. There were lines of text zipping by. Sometimes there were numbers and letters, sometimes there were symbols she had never seen before, other times it just looked like static. At one point Leiko's hand moved over to the actual computer tower, and Madoka noted something that looked like electricity, except with more color, shoot from her fingertips and into the tower. Madoka's eyes widened as she saw this, thinking that must be her magic. She had tried to ask Leiko about it before, without getting a clear answer, but she figured she would try once more.

"Just what exactly does your magic do?"

"It's hard to explain."

"Can you try?"

"No."

Madoka's face scrunched up again, but she was quick to brush it off. Leiko was obviously going to be a closed book about her magic, and Madoka got the impression that talking to a Magical Girl about her powers and other Magical Girl related stuff was sometimes a touchy subject, so she thought of something else to say. "You sure spend a lot of time over here at Mami's place."

"This is where my computer is."

"How come you don't have it at your house?"

"Because I'm trying to keep certain things secret from my family. They think that I've been spending time with a boyfriend these last few weeks." Madoka could not help laughing, but she was quick to stifle it into the back of her wrist. "Something funny about that?"

"No, no," said Madoka, waving her hands apologetically. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just it's more common for someone to lie to their parents to hide that they  _ have _ a boyfriend, but you did the opposite and lied about having a boyfriend to hide something else. Heh, well I don't know, I thought it was kind of funny."

"I guess I can see the humor."

Madoka also thought it was kind of strange. Wasn't it a bit abnormal for a parent to be okay with their fourteen-year-old daughter spending that much time with a boyfriend who they had never even met? Madoka didn't want to come off sounding nosy, so she did not point this out.

"Um... Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"An older sister."

"Oh, how old?"

"Eighteen..."

"Do you get along well with her?"

"I guess."

"I think having an older sister would be really cool! Um, I do have a little brother, though. He's only a toddler, but he's so adorable! He just took his first steps a couple weeks ago... well, my dad was helping him a bit, but still, it was really cool to see!"

"Fascinating."

"Have you ever tried braiding your hair?"

"No."

"You should! I think that would suit you really well! I tried it once, I don't think it worked for me, though, so I started just using these ribbons to make pigtails. Actually, it was my mom's idea."

"Once again, absolutely fascinating."

"Um... what school do you go to? You're in the same grade as us, right? But I've never seen you around before."

"I've always been home schooled..." Leiko turned away from the computer again, with her typical look of annoyance. "Is there a point to all of these meandering questions? Or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"Nope, just trying to annoy you!" said Madoka, with a bright smile on her face.

"It's certainly working..." Leiko pushed away from the computer desk and sighed. "Well, I can't get any work done like this, and I suppose I could use a break... If I go to that coffee shop with you, will you promise to leave me alone for the rest of the day?"

Madoka's smile brightened even more. "Yup, you got it!"


End file.
